MedCity morning read, Monday, Feb. 9

Procter & Gamble headquarters (courtesy of P&G)

Cincinnati consumer products company Procter & Gamble is working with investment bank Goldman Sachs to findbuyers for its prescription drug business or ways to exit the business, sources close to the matter told Financial Times last week.

The maker of Gillette razors and Crest toothpaste has been working to focus on high-growth businesses andget out of those that are not core to its consumer products mission, FT said.

P&G’s decision is one of only a few by Ohio companies to contract rather than to grow, even during the recession, said Tony Dennis, president and chief executive of BioOhio, the state’s bioscience company development organization.

That’s the downside to it,” Dennis said last week before leaving for Washington for two days of pitchingthe Ohio bioscience industry to policy makers. “The upside is, [the decision] will enhance their OTC business. They’re much more skilled with the OTC business, anyway.”

Procter &Gamblesells many over-the-counter remedies, such as Pepto-Bismol (nausea) and Prilosec (heartburn). The company’s prescription drugs have focused on women’s health, and on gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal problems.

The company’s health care division, which includes its pharmaceuticals business, had $14.6 billion in sales and $2.5 billion in net earnings last year, according to Financial Times. P&G told that newspaperthat its pharmaceuticals unit accounts for global sales of more than $2 billion.

P&G shares hit a 52-week low of $52.21 on Feb. 2 after the companyreported disappointing second-quarter results and lowered its full-year expectations. In December, A.G. Lafley, P&G’s chief executive, told analysts his company had stopped investing in new drug development andwould consider selling some of its key drug brands.

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